Book launch: 'Problem child' Akhtar bowls a hot one
In a book titled “Controversially Yours”, Akhtar hits out at prominent names in the world of cricket and Bollywood, and hints at instances where he has indulged in ball tampering, Indian media reported.
‘Shahrukh, Modi cheated me, Akram created hurdles’
In his book, Akhtar leveled accusations against Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan and India’s former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.
In a report published in IBN LIVE, Akhtar is referred to as the “problem child of Pakistani cricket”. The report adds that in his book, Akhtar blames Modi and Khan from preventing his inclusion in the now defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Amongst these sensational claims, Akhtar claimed that former cricketer Wasim Akram tried to destroy his career by creating hurdles to impede his success.
‘Tendulkar and Dravid are not match winners’
A report in the Hindustan Times stated that in his book, Akhtar boasts that Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar was scared of facing him on the field.
"Sachin and Dravid are not match winners to start with," Akhtar reportedly says in his book.
"This is the truth. Why must anyone fear speaking it?" Akhtar told a newspaper ahead of his book's release, Hindustan Times reported.
The report suggests that Akhtar’s allegations will “sting like Akhtar’s deliveries”, implying that they will not be received well.
Ball tampering
In an exclusive interview with an Indian news channel Times Now, Akhtar confessed to have tampered with the the ball and argued that the practice should be legalised.
In a triangular series in 2003 held in Sri Lanka, Akhtar was caught tampering with the cricket ball, making him the second player in cricket to be banned on ball tampering charges. The same year he was banned for one Test match and two One Day International matches for abusing South African spin bowler Paul Adams, during a match against South Africa.
Reactions
Sports correspondent for Indian news channel Headlines Today said that although Akhtar is respected in India as a cricketer, his allegations will not be taken seriously.
“It’s being looked at as a publicity stunt to sell the book,” said HT correspondent Shamya Das adding that Akhtar is “controversy’s favourite child”.
“Akhtar is respected, but his allegations will be taken with a pinch of salt.” He added that Akhtar’s statements are “bound to ruffle a few feathers”.
Akhtar's side
In an interview about his book with the Times of India, Akhtar said:
I hope Pakistan cricket will be understood and respected. I hope people will feel the other side of me and understand why I am the way I am.
Shoaib, who made his international debut in 1997, took 178 wickets in 46 Tests. He ended his career three wickets short of 250 in 163 One-Day Internationals and took 19 wickets in 15 Twenty20s.
COMMENTS (34)
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@Nadeem Ahmed: if you read the book you will come to know that he admired Sachin most of the times. he only said about one occasion when e felt that Sachin was not out and he walked away to the dressing room, the ball did not touch the glove but he walked.Is that not stupid a batsman with this class did not even know that the ball hit the glove or not.The media is not telling the proper story they are only sticking to one point which is Sachin scared of Akhtar.he said this on only one occasion please try to understand and then comment
All in all i just want to say that media is not playing the proper role of promoting the book in the right way.He is just telling his opinions nothing else and every person is allowed to do this, he just says that what he feels and approximately he is right too. Well, at the end i want to congratulate Shoaib Akhtar for his book.He is agreat bowler having a perfect attitude as his bowling is concerned.
Shoaib Akhtar is real warrior in the game of Cricket, Pakistan have ever produced.He never compromised his conscious.He said all that, what he felt. He never became Folding Spoon of the authorities, who were running the game.There is no doubt that every batsman in the world feared of his nagging pace and Sachin and Dravid are not the exceptions.We have a view in our minds of the Shattered Stumps of both of these greats at Calcutta and Faislabad. When Shoaib fired every batsman shivered of his Pace and bounce.
Shoaib Akhtar is a real warrior Pakistan has produced ever. It was amazing to watch the batsmen all over the world, Shivering due to his nagging pace. He is not a folding spoon at the peak of his carrier. He never compromised his conscious.He said what he felt, that's why he was made scapegoat by the system. There in no doubt in saying that every batsman all over the world were afraid of his pace and Sachin and Dravid are not the exceptions. We all have a view in mind of the shattered stumps of both at Calcutta and Faislabad.
Guys whats wrong if he said" sachin is afraid of fast bowlers". Whats wrong with that. No body is taking sachins greatness away. He is a great player but he just mentioned that he was afraid of fast bowlers. Ofcourse Indians will take is as an offence but its not.
@Nadeem Ahmed
A great attitude.Giving respect to others we make ourselves respectable. Warm regards, brother.
@Shafaaqat: I am not a big fan of Sachin, but certainly dont buy what shoib says. Sachin has won more matches for India than Shoib has for Pak. Sachin is more sincere towards his country and his team than Shoib can ever be towards his country or team. Sachin is a epitome of dignity where as Shoib is a epitome of cheap antics. No doubt this is his last chance of making some easy money by selling cheap book. We can do better without these embarassing people who bring bad name to the coutry.
Tendulkar avgs 43 in tests when Akhtar plays.Slightly better than his avg againist PAkistan.(42).
Akhtar avgs 33.33 when Tendulkar plays for India.His over all avg againist India is 34.50.
In ODIs
Akhtar avgs 31 when Tendulkar is playing, while his over all avg againist India is 26.78.
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/eng...;type=allround
Tendulkar avgs 45.71 when Akhtar plays for Pakistan while his over all avg againist Pakistan is 39+.
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/eng...;type=allround
If forty years could be so stupid what can we expect from an eighteen years old (Aamir). I am not an expert nor capable to find flaws in Sachin's batting but one thing I must say that in Sports or any other form of entertainment, if you defame or dishonour your opponent, you end up destroying yourself. For example a bolwer comments that his opponent batsman did not have class, it means that bowler's rejoicing after taking wicket was fake too. If Sachin says that all his hundred centuries (one less) were against average bowlers who were scared to bowl at him, his own respect is diminished too. Thanks God, other Pakistani entertainers are not so stupid, otherwise we would read that Rafi and Lata Ji did not know how to sing, Dilip and Amitabh did not know acting, R.D. Burman and Shankar Jaikishan did not know music. Praise your opponents, in return you get respect too. Thats why great generals praise their defeated opponents. Praise and respect is the only option to enhance your own credibility. He should have written, " Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest and finest batsman the world has ever seen, and I am very proud to get his wicket on many occasions." but Shoaib and wisdom are two different things.
"Autobiography is about my life" says Shoaib Akhter. If we agree, his life was controversial for us, then dah! his book will also be controversially ours.
We should not judge the book by its cover, we have to understand its a autobiography and it contains 36 years of information in it. We have to analyze the era, the context, the flow of the book. It will be so early to comment on the book & to give review about it. We need to have an editorial judgement before making any review.
Let the iron be hot then we should stroke else on controversially your our comment will become controversial.
@one over: Well scoring 18 runs in one over. Com on. What about the first ball ducks in test matches in India. Tendulkar is a great player n there will be no one in history like him forever. But Shoaib had a terror on most batsmen in world cricket.
@blithe:
Shoaib talks about tampering with bottle tops, creams and what not. In the TV interview, he said he once tampered with the ball on the pant back pocket zip. Let's not dilute the crime by saying everyone does it. Shoaib justified it on TV saying even Sachin used to tamper the ball. In his book he says, players used to drink and come to the field.
IN 1993 world cup final against England, England were chasing and the bowling did not look threatening. Lamb was batting. The ball was changed during drinks break and now Wasim swung the ball like crazy. The ball was tampered so badly and Lamb later said i had never seen a ball swing like this suddenly.
During Imran's time, he used to ask players to take oath under Quran that they will not leak these these ball tampering strategies to anyone. Each match, one player was given the responsibility to doctor the ball. He used to have fringe players stationed on the boundary lines, and whenever the ball goes to them, their job is to polish the ball using some cream or over bottle caps hidden in pockets. Even recently this used to be done, because TV cameras don't focus on things outside the boundary line. Imran knew that they won close matches due to doctoring the ball. That is why, after winning the World Cup, he never praised his team mates; he kept talking about his cancer hospital. The reason he did not praise his bowlers was that he knew that they did not win due to their cricketing skills.
In the recent ball tampering episode of Afridi, the reactions of team mates are most revealing. Did you see the reaction of Rana when Afridi was biting the ball? He did not look shocked or astounded; he did not cry, 'Arrey, yaar what you are doing?" He just kept smiling when Afridi was chewing the ball. This means they have been doing this for so many years !!
Whether we like it or not, Shoaib's book will only confirm what everyone has been saying privately all along; the contribution of Pak to world cricket is match fixing and ball tampering!
What is your problem if Sachin and Dravid are not match winners. This is a blessing for opponents.
I wonder why people are trying to condemn the truth. Don't we know Sachin is not a match winner, evident from the record books, just go through. Don't we know Wasim was always involved extra activities. Don't we know all teams do tempering with the ball. I mean come on guys, give this guy some breathing space. Accept him the way he is or just ignore. He has been source of great entertainment and we all love him for that alone. Well done shoaib and thanks indeed for being so good over the years. We will miss your lovely bowling.
50 years from now, if someone (not from Pakistan or India) writes a history of cricket, Shoaib Akhtar might appear as a footnote while Tendulkar will surely have a paragraph at the least.
Love you Shoaib!!!
Everything that you are saying is 100% truthful.
When he talks about ball tampering he means keeping one side shiny , the other side rough -- all sides do it. The English team is very prodigious at doing it. These days they automatically pass the ball to Cook who rubs the shiny side in very vigourous way against his pants.
Tendulkar is not a match winner. Check the stats on Cricinfo and you will realise that this a truthful statement (number of centurie he got where India ended up losing the match).
Afridi is good in leaking team matters to the media. I am sure this is true,.. You can judge this by the statements Afridi keeps giving against fellow players, againt the PCB, etc., etc. The way Afridi has been playing politics by going to see the Governor of Sindh...
Rawalpindi Express No he should have been called Rawalpindi Goods Train which more often than not broke down hardly ever completing his spell of overs.
ek aur bigmouth pakistani.....talented, megalomaniac, misguided but no doubt a talented player. I sometimes wonder had he given all his interviews in urdu rather than english he wud have had ended up with 10% the controvercies he is now having behind him.....
The funny thing is that most Indians would agree that Sachin is not a match-winner (just see the amount of centuries he got where India lost).
But I see Pakistanis needlessly getting defensive and defending Sachin.
Love u shoaib. You are Hero for whole Pakistan.
well, other things side, which may be true as well.... akhtar shouldnt say that tendulakr and dravid are not great batsmen.... i mean werent it his over in 2003 WC, which tendulkar blasted for 18 runs and then went on to score 98...that over cost us the match...sometime it's not just one over in a thousands ones in your career... sometime that one over cost you one of the world cups that come after 4 years....that akhtar's over alone is a painful memory...
The book should be taken in the right spirit.
I look forward to reading it. .
no chilli no book sales!
Akhtar's accusations should be seen as a publicity stunt and on the behest of publishers who want to make it's sale work....
Shoaib having big heart that's why he says the truth in front of the whole world through his book.He is right any ways. CONGRATULATIONS SHOAIB.........
yet another embarrassment for Pakistan :(
"Almost all Pakistani fast bowlers have tampered with the ball. I may be the first one to openly admit to it but everybody is doing it," the maverick fast bowler has revealed in his just-published biography " Controversially Yours."
Akhtar was a superb cricketer and a man of great personality..he is having still a cricket of 1-2 years and due some bench-er in board he have to retire..
Inshallah i ll buy his book as soon as possible.
He's a star alright. I haven't looked forward to reading a book this much for long!